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The H1 fleet sets its sights on HydroTown USA for the 52nd running of the Columbia Cup and the all-important H1 season opener. For the first time in the history of the sport the Tri-Cities will play host to the year’s kick-off race. The Madison, Indiana Governor’s Cup over the July 4th weekend was a non-points race due to the limited field procured for the event. Adding weight and importance to this year’s HAPO Columbia Cup is an extra set of heats for a total of four heat sections in addition to the winner-take-all final. The extra set of heats and the double boat bonus will offer fantasy players ample opportunity to score huge this weekend on the Columbia River!
Likely participants in the Tri-Cities are: U-1 Homestreet Bank, U-3 Griggs Ace Hardware, U-9 Les Schwab Tires, U-11 J&D Hydraulics, U-12 Graham Trucking, U-21 Payne West Insurance, U-99.9 Carstar powered KISW Miss Rock, and U-440 Bucket List Racing. Boat participants are as always TBD and subject to change. U-16 Ellstrom’s Oh Boy! Oberto has not committed as of the time of this post.
HydroDan’s Three 2 Think About:
Heads or Tails: If the duel at the Madison Regatta was any indication, it appears the 2017 season may be a Deck2Deck donnybrook between two of the young guns of the sport. Jimmy Shane in the U-1 HomeStreet Bank entry is an established young gun looking to take his fifth driver’s championship in a row. Andrew Tate in the U-9 Les Schwab is the upstart young gun looking to build upon a terrific rookie campaign where he won on Lake Washington in Seattle. Andrew’s father Mark was never able to notch this accomplishment in his long and illustrious career. It could be a coin flip all season between these two hot shoes.
JW in the Jerky Boat: After two straight seasons in which Team Ellstrom was taken out of contention for a Columbia Cup victory due to driver error, Jean Theoret has been replaced as driver with veteran racer JW Meyers in what is his second stint with the Ellstrom camp. The boat was top qualifier in TC in 2015 and 2016 at 160+ with Theoret at the controls. The question is: how fast can JW get requalified as a driver and become comfortable in his new sleek ride? As of the time of this post, it is unclear whether the U-16 will appear in Tri-Cities.
Piston Power: The Go3 team looks to wreak havoc on the hair dryers with its popular Allison-V-12-powered entry after a long off-season spent tuning in Posey County, Indiana. With fresh engines and a local sponsor on board, expect the the U-3 Griggs Ace Hardware to run with her hair on fire all weekend and attempt to match or improve upon a solid third-place performance on the Columbia in 2016.
Posted on: Jul 27 2017 05:46 PM UTC
Edited on: Jul 27 2017 05:48 PM UTC
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